John h



` GATE. l No. 276.769. Patented May 1,1883.

. ATTORN EYS N, PETERS, Pmmmhugraphur, Washington. D. C.

UNITED STATES y PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN n. CALDWELL, or Basco, ILLINOIS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,769, dated May 1,1883.

Application filed January 16. 1883. (No model.)

invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of line w .e in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line y y in Fig. 2.

This invention has relation to farm-gates; and it consists intheconstruction and novel arrangement of devices, as will be hereinafterfully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, a designates theslatted platform, bridge, or base, to which the gate-frame b, composedot' end pieces, c c, and slats d, or slats d and rods e, as may bedesired, is hinged, as shown, to one of its sills or side pieces, f. Theside piece, f', of the base a may be recessed vertically, as at g, toreceive the free end of one of the battens or end pieces, c, where rodsor barbed wire are used for the upper bars of the gate. Where the barsof the gate` are composed entirely of slats this notch will not benecessary, as said bars will nearly lill the spaces between the slatsot' the base a.

It is probably not out of place to mention that the slats of the base care nailed, spiked, or otherwise secured to sleepers h, embedded in theground, to give stability to said base. The end pieces, c c, ot the gateshould pass down beside the sleepers h until the slats and rods of thegate rest upon the sleepers between the slats of the base when the gateis in a horizontal position or open, as shown.

At one end of the base c a post, i, is set into the ground, as shown,and is provided at its upper end with a cross-arm, j, at right angles tothe line of the slats of the base and gate, which arm is suitablybraced, as at k 7c. These k on the same side ot' the crossarm. Theseleversl l are bifurcated at their inner ends, and iu said bifurcationsare pivoted the upper ends of metal straps, m m', the former beingshorter than the other. The lower end of the strap m is secured in akerf, n, inthe upper end ot' a nearly vertical bar, o, which carries onone of its edges the slotted latch-guard o. The lower end of the strap mis pivoted to the inner face of the bar 0, as shown. The outer ends ofthe levers l and Z are provided with pendent rods p p' at a distancefrom the gate to permit the team to approach and the driver to operatethe levers to cause the gate to fall to a horizontal position withoutinterfering with the animals heads.

To the lower end ot' the-bar o, on its inner face, is secured a metalplate, q, in an inclined position toward the top of the gate when thelatter is in a horizontal position. This plate q is provided near itslower end with a slot, q', through which a pin, r, extends into thehingeslat ot' the gate. r designates a latch for holding the gate in itsvertical position, a stud, s, engaging the latch at this time. Thislatch is the ordinary weighted latch, its weighted end extending throughthe slot in the latch-guard o', thereby causing it to be more effectivein operation. t t designate the hinges by which the gate is connected tothe side piece of the base and the bottom slatot the gate.

The main object ot' this invention is to form a bridge or platform overwhich the vehicle or animal can pass when the gate is lowered. To lowerthe gate the levers (or one of them, which will operate the other) mustbe raised at their outer ends, which operation will release the catch bylowering the bar o, :and the slotted plate q will move the top of thegate outward and downward .to a point where its own gravity willassistit to its place in the slatted base c.4 The team and vehicle canthen pass over, and the lever not previously grasped Having thus fullydescribed my invention, pin projecting from the hinge- Slat, substanwhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by tially as specified. 1o LettersPatent, is- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in Thecombination, with a falling gate, of e presence of two Witnesses. 5slatted base,apostcarryingpivotedlevers,the JOHN H. CALDWELL. inner endsof which are connected toa vertical WVitnesses: bar by metal straps, anda slotted plate piv- C. BRUNTON, o'ted to the bar and connected to thegate by a N. H. COMFORT.

